GH2013

Open letter to God and His Part Time Servants: No. Really. We Need Fewer “Churches” in Ghana

Saints and the Most High:

We need fewer churches in Ghana. Considering Jesus never once preached in a church (churches differ from synagogues, right?), I don’t think this is a very controversial statement. Jesus preached on mountains, by rivers, in the city square…if you – Mr. Pastor – really want to get the gospel out into the world for the love of the gospel, get out of the four walls of your church. I have a proposal for you: Give up your church real estate and allow the people to use it for something more useful.

You use your church building – what? – twice a week, maybe? That’s five days out of seven with no use! The Lord doesn’t approve of waste, and as soon as I can think of a proverb about waste, I’ll drop it on you. In the meantime, let’s get back to that proposal.

If you take a look back at history, you will find that many of the world’s prominent scientists were also Christians. George Washington Carver, the famous African American botanist, was a devout Christian who refused to accept any glory for his breakthrough work, and Gregor Mendel was a monk. Who is more devout than a monk? There are dozens of other names from antiquity that I could throw at you in order to serve my purpose in persuading you, but we must look ahead, not behind.

What I would like to ask is this: Why not turn your houses of shouting into centers of science? I mean, let’s be honest; it hasn’t done the majority of the country much good, has it? You’re all still praying to God for food, jobs and clothing, but nothing of note has happened, has it? That’s not fair. The pastor and first lady are probably getting fitted for a new suit or a brand new Benz this week…but that doesn’t do the rest of the congregation much good, does it?

If your church is supposed to reflect the glory of God, why doesn’t it have a garden? God feeds the beasts of the ground and the birds of the air…so why haven’t 20% of you dedicated part of your property to feed yourselves from the very ground that you own? Take a Selah on that and join me in a few minutes.

How else might your church be more productive? I don’t know…how about you ask all your barely employed – but very educated – members to offer remedial classes to the kids in the area who can’t/don’t go to school for a number of reasons so that they are not so behind in their classes?

Selah.

Or how about this? How about you just abandon the whole enterprise if that seems too hard (or won’t generate enough money for your pockets) and turn your church into an Imaginarium. There. I said it. Your church, just 100 feet from two other churches in either direction, would be better put to use if you allowed people to come inside and daydream for an hour or four.

Of course, this is nothing more than my own personal pipe dream. Church in the 21st century is a big money making machine. Every month there is a new churchprenuer sprouting on the scene with a “fresh revelation from Gaaad”, and he is not going to let the chance to fleece hapless sheep go by. By Lord, I wish you would make it so!

I beg you: Hear my prayer, oh Lord of hosts, because it’s probably one you don’t get to hear that often.  Open the minds and the hearts of those who claim to be your people. Cause them to give up the ground they covet so deeply. Cause them to suffer the little children to come into the church not to sit, but to THINK, Lord! Compel these your saints to invest in scientific tools so that they can assist in their own deliverance. Did Christ not even have to carry His own cross in order to save the world? Why must these your people, who claim to have the mind of Christ, not also believe they have to put their hand to the wheel or their wit to the test and generate their own vehicle of deliverance?!

Oh, Gaaad!!!

Sorry. I didn’t mean to slang your name like that.

Oh, God!

What?? A pool table made of mud, dung and bamboo. Genius!

What?? A pool table made of mud, dung and bamboo. Genius!

Imagine what our country would be like in just five short years if we had an Imaginarium every 100 feet or so in our midst? Where people – young and old – could come and meet and share ideas…no matter how impractical or ridiculous…and NO ONE would laugh! Imagine if teams of students got together and said “You know what? We can make that happen. Let’s begin to build some prototypes!” After all, the iPhone began with someone’s idea, did it not, Lord? And other people bought into it, did the not, Father? And those with a mind for vision invested in it until it was perfected, did they not Great One?!? But what is a smart phone to You, You who created those creepy, electrified jelly fish things in vast deep of the ocean?

ATV made of tin, wood and flip flips

ATV made of tin, wood and flip flips

Our country is teeming with youth who are full of creativity and ideas, but they have nowhere to make their creations come to life. They need houses of science and thought. Ghana needs her own Renaissance. I see the buds of change beginning to show, but we need your rain to bring the change! The universe screams that you are a God of art as well as science. There’s just too much cool stuff out there in the dirt, the sky and the sea to prove that You are.

So, I beseech you Lord, download into your Ghanaian (and several folks in Atlanta) there is a need to develop the whole human being. I know why You don’t answer many of these prayers, Father, because me sef, I roll my eyes when I hear them. Science will save us, not shouting.

Ummm. Okay. Amen.

Have you ever been to an Imaginarium? Aren’t they amazing? If you hear of any projects in Africa that need funding that will improve lives through science, kindly share the link in the comments section below. There’s always someone on MOM ready to give towards intelligent enterprises!